This excellent relief-carved image of Sakyamuni Buddha -- nationally-designated Treasure #355 -- is carved on a boulder just below the summit of Yongbong-san. This was the original site of Yongbong-sa Temple, probably founded in the late Baekje Kingdom (7th Cen) when this artwork was created. The temple was destroyed in the early Joseon Dynasty (15th Cen) by the Pyeongyang Jo Clan who settled as aristocrats in this area and determined through pungsu-jiri that this site would be the best location for the clan's tombs. Yongbong-sa was later rebuilt to the NE of the peak and about halfway down the slope (see next page).

Sacred Mountain south of Deoksan Hot SpringsRocky 381-m Spur of the Geumbuk-jeongmaek RangeFeaturing Yongbong-sa Temple and including Suam-san

Yongbong-san [Dragon-Peaked Mountain] is a sacred peak, really the 381-m cap of a long ridge spurring NE off the Geumbuk-jeongmaek Range just south of Deoksung-san Sudeok-sa, in Hongseong-gun County, South Chungcheong Province. It extends up to Suam-san Peak just across the border into Yesan-gun County, which overlooks Yesan's Deoksan Hot-springs Resort area. It contains several holy Buddhist relics.

Photos on this page are by my hiker-friend Roger Shepherd, who visited here with me in August 2010.